Anyone else watch the pilot? I thought it was alright, but mostly due to the performances (especially Mcconaughey). The plot so far is pretty much standard serial killer fare.
I gave it a shot, was looking forward to it. To be honest, the last 5 minutes is the only reason I am going to turn in next weekend. I was very close to saying forget it.
What was it about the last five minutes that sold you (in a matter of speaking) on the show? I don't recall anything truly earth-shattering happening then? I do get somewhat where you are coming from, if not for the cast, the pilot could have been pretty interchangeable with most serial killer movies and TV shows.
Spoilers here... (mods should add an R to the title) Where they visited the uncles house and Rust finds the satan catcher thing in the abandoned shed, and then at the end in 2012 time when the two detectives questioning Martin show the picture of the dead girl tied up, with clear signs of it being either the same murderer or someone close to the original murder.
I see. My guess from early on in the episode was that they were actually questioning Hart about Cohle because the two of them never solved the original case, but then a murderer with the same MO returned (he asked to see their file on the new case earlier in the episode) and Cohle had left the force and been somewhat disgraced since then, making him something of a possible suspect. But then that theory went out the window when Cohle referred to the "heroic" moment where they found the kids. So they solved some aspect of the case, though it's not yet clear what exactly.
I thought it was amazing. However, I have never watched a cop or murder/mystery series before so it's all new to me. It's an anthology series so it's only going to be 8 episodes long. The good thing with that is the story will have a conclusions soon and we don't have to wait years. The bad thing is that there will be new actors because I really like the cop duo of Harrelson and McConaughey.
Really? Considering that almost half of all shows (if not more) are a cop or murder mystery series I find that amazing.
I just watched the first episode last night. I thought it was a really promising start. By which I mean: The performances were compelling. McConaughey has been given the most juice so far, and I thought he used it well and was really fun to to watch. Harrelson's character is at least superficially more mundane, but he did a nice job of making him seem real, while providing hints of there being more to Marty than meets the eye. I was interested every second they were on screen. The two time lines worked well. Revelations in the more recent interviews were used intelligently to change your understanding of the event from the mid 90's. For example: the discovery of the first dead body following closely on the heels of Rust's arrival to Louisiana seemed nothing much until you learn that the second body's discovery followed his return from a long absence. Is he the killer? Has he been tracking the killer all along (and a potentially related question: how did his daughter die)? I like the use of the relationship between the two men as the frame for understanding the investigation. Most serial killer plots focus more on action/clues/suspense than on character. This is better. The dialogue was good-t0-very good. They didn't dumb things down and for all the time the main characters were on the screen, there was plenty of well-timed silence where facial expressions, landscape...whatever was allowed to do the talking.
I guess we were supposed to believe that Marty and the girl who came down with the depositions were having an affair? He had that "oh shit, let's act casual so no one in the office knows what's really going on here" look.
Yeah, definitely. My comment was more directed at the way he inflected certain comments and interacted with Rust. He was playing somebody who's pretending to be dumber than they actually are.
The first place I noticed it was when he was doing the run-down of personality types that become detectives. He put himself in rank and file, but the simple fact that he steps back and makes that analysis suggests to me that he's more than that. There's somebody smarter--or at least more clever--looking out of his eyes than the man he pretends he is. I also think it shows when he's telling Rust to shut up about being a Pessimist. It's only partly because Marty doesn't want to hear it. It's because Marty is concerned--perhaps even concerned for Rust--about Rust's incongruity. I could be wrong, though. It's still only the first show.
I just thought about it again and the only other cop type show I've watched is The Wire. I've never watched any other cop show or even murder type shows. I've never been drawn to them for some reason. I know it sounds odd considering how much is out there. Everything I watch is on HBO, AMC, and a few comedies on NBC (Community and Parks).
Belgian guy, I watched the first Red Riding movie. It wasn't bad but it's not my cup of tea. It reminded me of a weaker version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm still digging this show though. The story is told so well it makes me wish I could watch the entire season at once. I hate it when the hour is up. I love how they drop little clues to future events to whet your appetite. I'm also enjoying the two overarching stories being told; the first murder that we are watching and this new one which hasn't been mentioned that much. Did anybody notice the owl in the burned down church that was perched on the beam? It was there for a second and then after an edit, it was gone. I don't know if it was purposeful or not.
Anyone else who found the pairing of Woody Harrelson and the girl half his age a bit absurd (ignoring the exploitative nature of the scene itself)?
I actually liked the second episode a lot better than the first. As for the girl, I believe it. There's a law firm in the building that I work in and in the firm there are two lawyers who are always going places together. He's married (wears a wedding band at least) and she's not from what I can tell (no ring on her finger). She's considerably younger than he is. We had someone in a neighboring building call us to tell us that someone should tell the people in the office a few floors below us having sex to close the blinds. It turns out it was the two of them. Speaking of the girl in True Detective, damn yo. She was a pleasure to see, even if it was Woody Harrelson.
I only knew her from a couple of horror movies she has been in, but she's apparently been in a moderately successful series of kids movies as well (Percy Jackson or somesuch).
Oh, I'm well aware it happens (when I just started out here, the 20-something web admin was shagging one of the bosses, who was pushing fifty at the time), I just don't see it with these two. e.g. McNulty made for a more believable hound (as well as his partners being closer to his own age).